Bike Virginia - Tour de Jet - 2007

The crack of dawn was breaking as the Duke headed to my abode to begin the journey. It would be a death defying ride down to Virginia for the duo.

A freak accident on 95 North in Maryland caused a van to travel across the divide and tumble several times at highway speeds toward my South bound car. Quick manuevering avoided further tragedy and near certain death. Though an ominous sign, it fortunately did not portend of things to come.

Cell phones kept us in touch with the dynamic pair of Merckx and Armstrong, our old college buddies and cyclists who would round out our foursome. Armstrong last seen in his Albany days weighing in at 145 lbs was now a muscular powerhouse exhibiting a well hidden 'roid like physique - the result of many evenings in the gyms of Boston.

Merckx, the self proclaimed "most recognized" triathlete in and around the DC circuit came dressed in his DC Tri Gear well tuned after a full winter and fall of cycling that included commuting to and from his job on the bike, afterwhich he could be seen either running the streets of DC or swimming in its lakes. If there was an ounce of body fat on him it eluded my eyesight.

Duke came along with cell phone in hand to conduct business and a pair of Everlast weight lifting gloves. If not for his helmet and shoes little would give clue he was about to embark on a hefty bicycling adventure. While I had every conceivable piece of bike gear from multiple sleak jerseys, frame pump with built in guage, eyeglass mirror, gel pants, gel gloves, and special cycling sunglasses, Duke proved to be the gearless wonder - proving that talent could overcome the need for biking gear, and talent is a quality that he held in abundance. I still don't quite understand how he finished the journey with the amount of crisis he had to overcome, the kind that comes with running several businesses.

Friday evening before the event was the time to register, check in to our hotel in Chester, VA, and to share dinner with 2000 of our soon to be fellow cyclists. There were carbon and titanium road bikes, leisure bikes, mountain bikes, tandems, foldups, and recumbents. There were as many different bicycles as their were people. And they came from all over the country.

We begin the adventure from James Blair High school in the sleepy town of Hopewell, Virgina. We extract and assemble our bikes from our cars and gear up. The final act of filling up our water bottles with a choice of water or Hammer Heed (a vile tasting protein laced eletrolyte solution) precedes the initial push forward. We plan to do the full 65 miles touring in and around Hopewell and its neighboring towns.

The tour is thankfully uneventful. Leading the group was fun and we managed for the most part to stay together for much of the ride. This was Duke's longest ride to date, and he was feeling good but concerned that he probably should not try to do the next day's century if he wanted to insure he would make it through the entire event.

more to come ...

The Wyckoff/Franklin Lakes Triathlon

Well its done.

Completed my first tirathlon, the Wyckoff tri, with a time of 2:13:49, about the best I could have expected. Weather was perfect, mood and atmosphere was the best. The competition opened with a beautiful rendition of the Star Spangeld Banner which caused my eyes to well up. The site of all of the particpants around the lake on a gorgeous morning of my first triathlon, with a soundtrack of this incredible live rendtion of our anthem put me at ease. I was both calm and excited at the same time.

Biking compadres Patti, Molly and Julie went off on the second wave with the women, and I would not see them again until the finish line.

I waded into the water waiting to begin. The water was a mild 75 degrees and clear. Word came and my wave, the last of the group, began with a mad dash. I got kicked and slapped but the wet suit kept me bouyant. The crowd thinned out as I veered off course but hey, at least I was enjoying the swim without getting a beating.

After exiting the water I had about a 1/4 mile (or so it seemed) walk/jog over ashpalt and gravel and grass to the the transition area. I found myself staggering, not sure footed at all. Something about the swim that throws you off kilter.

Got to the transition area and needed to regain my composure and figure out what to do. Wrenched myself out of the wet suit, cleaned my feet with water from my water bottle, refilled it with bottled water, put on my bike jersey and race belt, put on helmet and sunglasses and then socks and bike shoes. I was off. The volunteers kept shouting "walk your bicycles", so in the shape I was in, I literally walked it about another 1/8 mile to the ashpalt course. I should have been jogging with the bike, duh! Needless to say, my transition time was a wopping 5 minutes. Sheeesh. After this I promise never, never to make fun of Julie's transition times again.

Once on the bike I felt at home. Passing other cyclists the first few miles seemed like shooting sitting ducks. The tougher competition was way ahead by now. Fighting traffic was a pain. Had to slow down several times due to traffic. I paced myself nicely so I would not get beat up by the two back to back hills near the end. All went as planned.

I racked the bike in the transition area and fueled up with some gel and water (probably not necessary). Ripped off the helmet, threw on the sneakers and then, what the.... I obviously needed more brick workouts. The legs were jelly. Figured I was dead in the water, wouldn't make it. All those cyclists that I passed were now passing me on the run. Started chatting with a fellow from Paramus. A volunteer saw us chatting and said "you're making this look too easy". Then I realized that I had quite a bit left, so began to increase the pace and said goodbye to Paramus guy. The knee was holding out as I got a Cho-Pat band from Ironman Larry Grogin the Chiropracter (thanks Larry!). It was working like a charm.

On the run, I accepted a water cup from the cute high school volunteers and tried to drink it. It was a Kramer moment. I hadn't ever done this on the run and it wasn't easy to do. It was sloshing all over the place and I gulped it and took too much water in and starting a coughing fit. I guess I haven't figured out how to gasp, run and drink at the same time.

Was starting to feel better and I spied the Shelton photographer up ahead. Now, the last photo I sent my college roomante Dean he commented about the "less than world class" runners that were seen in the background. With this in mind, I noticed a fit couple just a head of me with just enough room for me to pass them if I turn it on before the photographer sets up for the picture. I put it in high gear and pass them, hoping that his photo will have a more heathier looking set of runners beside me to impress Dean. Boy, the things you go through when you have Dean as a roomate! I was laughing on the inside at my little prank. Have to wait for the photos to be published to see if I accomplished my goal.

Heading towards the finish line it's all downhill and I am at full stride kicking butt (to the extent a 9:55 miler can kick butt). My wife, son Eric and brother Jeff spot me sprinting to the finish (Jeff thinks for a second that I sprinted the whole way, then realizes it's still me, just can't fool 'em can ya), for a grand ending supported by the cheers from the many Glen Rock Tri group members who cheer loudly for all wearing the GRTRI colors.



I completed the course without drowning or stopping, which is a good thing. I did the 1/2 mile swim and jog to the transition area (including veering off course) in 22 minutes. A bit better than expected. I expected 24 minutes. But, Andrew at Ridgewood Cycle did say the wet suit he sold me would take 2 minutes off my swim time. Amazing how that works out. Anyway, have learned that I have to spot more frequently and be a bit more aggressive, rather than move to the outside. Wetsuit worked well, weather and lake was picture perfect.

I averaged 18.6 on the bike. This was as expected. Probably could not have done much differently. Will likely improve on this a bit through installation of aerobars, and better pacing. I did not draft but plenty of others did.

I ran a pace of 9:55/mile. This will likely improve if I focus my training on the run. My back was bothering me a bit during the run, but I am still a heel striker and need to work on form.

Came in 27th in my age group, out of 39 participants, 519th overall out of 723. I beat the time I expected, which was 2:15, so I was extremely pleased with the outcome of my first triathlon.

I stay for the award ceremony to watch Julie get her award for placing 2nd in her age group. During the award ceremony, I recognize Gayle from spin class. She and I had chatted about how she had run the Wyckoff triathlon many years ago but stopped. I had encouraged her to do it. Not only did she do it, but she came in first in her competitive age group (45-50) with an amazing time of 1:48. She credits the spin classes (she averaged 19.6 on the bike!). Looks like I will have to go back to spin class more often.

My next triathlon is August 19th at West Point.

And that's the way it was,